Push to eliminate mosquito-fighting layer of government stirs passions on both sides

Streamlining bureaucracy might undermine public health, opponents say

June 28, 2011|By Bill Ruthhart, Tribune reporter

When reformers talk of peeling away the luxuriant layers of government in Illinois, they often take a swat at an easy target: mosquito abatement districts.

They're small. They're old. They kill bugs.

In a state strapped for cash and billions of dollars in debt, and with local government budgets as tight as ever, lawmakers have ratcheted up efforts to wipe out some of Illinois' nearly 8,500 taxing units, the most in the country.

Mosquito districts often top the "not needed" checklist in Illinois, and their funding is being squeezed across the country.

"They have a little mosquito duchy here, courtesy of the bug. It's just ridiculous," said Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who called Illinois the nation's leader in bureaucracy. "There's no reason for these districts to exist. None."

A closer look at why the districts were created more than 80 years ago and the potential consequences of eliminating them illustrates the challenges state lawmakers and local officials face in trying to wipe them out.

Among the questions without clear answers: If the districts were discarded, who would be responsible for killing mosquitoes, a source of West Nile virus and other diseases? How would this be funded? And would axing them really save much money?

From Miami to Montana, the country's 734 mosquito abatement districts are facing severe reductions in funding as local and state governments struggle with budget crunches, said Joe Conlon, technical adviser for the American Mosquito Control Association. The nonprofit scientific organization conducts studies and provides information and education about suppressing mosquitoes.

"When mosquito control is done well, it's so seamless people fail to realize it actually is being done and think, 'Well, we can just get rid of it,'" Conlon said. "The truth is there are real, dangerous consequences."

Mosquito districts' chief mission now is the same as when the Illinois Legislature created them in 1927: to protect public health.

In the 1920s, malaria outbreaks led to widespread draining of backwater areas and swamps, prime breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes. When those efforts proved successful, the Legislature allowed for referendums creating local districts funded by property taxes.

Tribune headlines from the time referred to the "mosquito war" in detailing the creation of the districts, whose approaches have evolved from draining swamps and treating breeding spots with DDT and motor oil to a process of chemical treatments and testing for diseases.

"The Chicago area is a big swamp," said Paul Geery, a biologist with the Des Plaines Valley Mosquito Abatement District. "Even the Indians used to take a wide berth around the Chicago area, because the mosquitoes were so awful."

With malaria and yellow fever threats long gone, the districts had focused on making outdoor life more comfortable — until 2002, when Illinois was the epicenter of the West Nile virus outbreak.

After entering the country a few years earlier in New York, West Nile exploded in Illinois, infecting 884 people and killing 64, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Illinois cases accounted for 21 percent of West Nile cases nationwide in 2002.

"West Nile reminded people mosquitoes can transmit disease," said Bob Holub, who manages the Des Plaines Valley district. "It's one of those things that's out of sight, out of mind, but it's here to stay."

Since 2002, the number of West Nile cases reported annually in Illinois has ranged from 5 to 252, depending on how wet and warm the weather was, key factors for ideal mosquito breeding conditions.

This year, districts are reporting an unusually high number of culex mosquitoes, the type known to carry the virus, said Dave Zazra, a spokesman for the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District. No human cases have been reported so far, but the disease spreads most during the hottest summer months, and this year's cool spring has delayed that, Zazra said.

The North Shore district covers 13 municipalities in northern Cook County with nine full-time employees and 20 seasonal staffers. The Des Plaines Valley district covers western Cook with five full-time employees and 25 seasonal workers.

The four Cook County districts each collect a penny in property tax per $100 of assessed value. Statewide, the 21 districts collected $13.3 million in taxes in 2010, with $12.75 million coming from 13 districts in the Chicago region, according to state numbers.

Most of that money is spent on salaries, trucks, chemicals and lab equipment, and workers use several approaches to control mosquitoes, from applying bacteria that kill larvae to spraying pesticide for adults.